Hello
by Mii-Chan 24
Summary: Can the dead still communicate with the living? Fang's about to find out.... God save us from Writer's Block.


**Hello**

**By Amaya 24**

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back, writing random little one-shots. This has been rattling around in my head for a while, so I decided to give it a try. **

**Disclaimer: Of **_**course**_** I own Maximum Ride! -lawyers hand author lawsuit- Crap.**

**Quick note: This is a little after TFW. For reference go read 'Lost Heaven'.**

**- - - - -**

_"Well, Ari, I'm sorry that it's ended like this. You were a decent little kid, and then you were a total nightmare. I didn't trust you -- until the very end. I didn't know you much, didn't care to. Right now, that feels like the biggest tragedy of all."_

I leaned back against the frame of the bunk bed Iggy and I were sharing -- Max's mom was making sure all of us were comfortable while we were with them. Gazzy, the lucky bugger, got his own bed next to the window, though I figured that had something to do with his digestive system.

"Fang, you awake?" Iggy asked below me, his voice slurred.

"Yeah."

"Why?" He demanded, making me roll my eyes.

"You're up too."

"Because you keep tossing and turning. You keep waking me up. Stop it, or go irritate someone else." I rolled my eyes again and punched my pillow. It was hard getting used to having an actual bed, not to mention a roof over our head and food on the table. Max sure was lucky.

After I settled back into a more comfortable (ha!) position, I felt my mind wander. Why _had_ I been thinking about Ari's funeral?

A little voice entered my head. _'Cause you were thinkin' about Max._

_Angel, shouldn't you be asleep?_ I hear Angel shuffle slightly in the other room and I relaxed slightly. Now then, where was I? Oh, right. Thinking about Max.

I shook my head slightly, confused. Not that I was about to admit that to anyone, right? But at least I was relatively safe in my head. Max was... a touchy subject nowadays. Really, what did it take to get _through_ to that girl? Sometimes I wished I could read minds like Angel; then I could look into Max's mind and see what was going through it whenever she flew away from me.

_Ah, the insecurities of a teenage mutant bird kid._ I sighed, my mind buzzing too much to actually fall asleep. Max, Ari, saving the world -- when would this all end? Was it really so hard for us to have a normal... _somewhat_ normal life?

_Relax, Fang. Just... take it one step out of time._ Max was a doozy to work on: I knew she... _cared _for me, let's say, but she kept flying away. So that was a no-go. Ari? A little more workable.

After my little impromptu speech at his funeral, Iggy had asked me if I really meant what I'd said, or if I had said it for Max's benefit. Honestly? I really _had _meant it. Ari had gotten the shortest end of the stick, even compared to us. And he was dead now. He was only a year older than Angel, for Pete's sake!

He was Max's little brother, and neither of them had known until the very end. By that time, they had only a few hours together. It was horrible. _Ari? I wish I could have had more time to talk to you. Your sister confuses me_. I chuckled to myself; how unbelievably stupid. Ari was dead. He couldn't hear me.

- - - - - - -

I must have dozed off, because when I opened my eyes, I wasn't at the Martinez's. Actually, I wasn't anywhere _near_ them, by the looks of it. I was sitting in a meadow-type thing, with hills and trees sprouting out once in a while.

I immediately sat up, my senses on alert. Did we get kidnapped again? But as I looked around, I saw I was alone. Then I looked around again and did a double take. A few feet away, sitting in the shade of a tree, was a little blond boy.

"Gasser?" I called out wearily. The little boy looked up, but even though he had blue eyes like the Gasman, he was _not_ our little trooper.

The little boy looked at me and smiled slightly. "Hello, Fang." I felt myself tense.

"Do I know you?" The kid chuckled.

"I should hope so. _You_ called _me_." I frowned, thinking hard.

"No I didn't." The little boy shrugged, a smile on his face.

"If you say so. You really don't recognize me?" He asked, a curious look on his face. I shook my head no. The kid rolled his eyes and stood up, brushing grass off his pants. He was dressed casually, with jeans and a white t-shirt.

For some reason, he felt familiar, but I couldn't place him. He stared at me, still waiting under the shade. "You're gonna make me go over there, aren't you?"

He stretched and walked out of the shade. I blinked when the sunlight hit him. The little boy had looked like the Gasman. Now, he looked like an _Eraser_. Oh...

"Ari?" I ventured, still frowning. The hulking Eraser nodded, smiling slightly.

"Hey Fang. It's been a while, hasn't it?" With that, Ari walked back into the shade of the tree, looking like a normal little kid. I walked forward cautiously, feeling confused.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were dead." I accused, reaching the tree. I sat down across from Ari, studying him carefully.

He was pale, like Max, and his blond hair was slightly lighter than hers, but the blue eyes were all his. He was tall for his age, probably because of the experiments. He stared at me quietly for a few minutes.

"Well... To answer your first question... I'm here because you called me. And yeah. I'm dead." He said the last part so casually, it took my brain a few seconds to catch up.

"So you're a ghost?" Ari frowned.

"Not _really_, no. Think of it as a spirit guide." With that, he leaned back against the tree trunk, a small smile on his face.

"What now?" He shrugged, closing his eyes slightly. I looked at him.

"Ari? Did it hurt?" He opened one eye, gazing at me before wrinkling his nose.

"Not really. It was a shock, I can tell you that. But it didn't really hurt. It doesn't hurt now, either." He reached a hand back to touch his back. Right, the wings. Ari smiled at me like he heard what I'd thought and shifted slightly. Two large brown wings burst from his back, looking just like Max's.

"I asked if I could keep them." He offered in explanation, touching one of the feathers lightly. I nodded.

"You know what's happened to us since... you died?" I asked, curious despite myself. He nodded, tucking his wings back in.

"Yup. I was at the funeral. I heard what you said." He beamed at me, looking like any normal seven year old boy. "Thanks, man."

"And everything else?" I pressed, hoping he'd help me figure something out. He nodded, his expression more serious.

"Uh-huh. Meeting those people in Congress, the Antarctica thing, Gozen and the Uber-Director. All of that. I saw it. I even helped you guys out a little!" I blinked at him.

"When?" He smirked smugly.

"_I_ kept you guys safe during the hurricane. That's why you weren't torn to bits." He smiled proudly, making me chuckle.

"Thanks, then."

"No prob. But, you know, I've got a time limit. So... maybe we can get moving?" I shrugged.

"I don't know why I'm here." He snorted.

"Bull. You called me for a reason. Something about Max, maybe?" I couldn't be sure, but I thought I heard a teasing tone in his words.

"What about her?" I asked stiffly, daring him to say something. Just because he was dead didn't mean I couldn't find a way to re-kill him if he said the wrong thing.

"Well. I saw what she's been doing lately. And I got caught up with a few things from before. She's a bit slow sometimes, huh?" Well, this had gone in a completely different direction than what I was expecting. I nodded slightly.

"Yup. I mean. She threw herself away _how_ many times?" I frowned to myself.

"Two." Ari shook his head, frowning sadly.

"She may be the Flock leader, but she sure doesn't know how to deal with her own problems. Running off like that was just rude." I bit back a laugh.

"Are you sure we should be talking about this? I mean, she's your sister." Ari laughed.

"_Half_-sister. Besides, someone needs to knock some sense into her. And heaven knows it's not gonna be me..." He trailed off suggestively. I shook my head.

"I don't know what to do with her anymore." Ari shrugged, sighing.

"She's tough. And she's got a lot more to worry about besides the normal teenage things. Well, you all do, but her more than anyone."

"So, you're saying I should let her have her space?" I asked, genuinely curious. Ari smiled.

"A little. Right now, she really needs her best friend. Without all that..." Here, words failed him, and all he could do was flop his hands around uselessly.

"Without all the kissing." I finished for him. He nodded, flushing somewhat guiltily.

"Yeah. You guys are really... good for each other. But you really shouldn't push it so much. Max is screwed up as it is."

"Really?" He nodded, smiling up at the blue sky.

"Yup. I've got insider information that everything's gonna turn out okay." Insider information? I followed his line of sight, up into the puffy clouds floating in the perfect blue sky. Did he mean...?

"Well, Fang. If that's everything... I have to go." He sighed and sat up, stretching. I blinked.

"What about me?" He glanced down.

"You're gonna wake up soon. Relax, man. Everything's gonna be fine." He smirked suddenly. "Go with the flow." I nodded, the scene slowly fading into white.

"And Fang? If you hurt Max, I'll come back and haunt you for the rest of your miserable life."

- - - - -

"Fang? Fang, come on. Wake up, lazy." I opened my eyes slowly, biting back a yawn.

"I'm up, I'm up." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. Max stood above me, her hands on her hips, looking down at me irritably.

"Jeez... Lazy. I've been here forever trying to get you up. We were ready to call Mom." She smiled shakily at me, but I could tell she'd been worried. I sat up, sighing.

"Sorry Max. I had a really weird dream." She cocked her head, confused.

"About what?" I smiled to myself, almost imagining the little blond kid standing next to Max.

"Nothing."

- - - - - - -

**I think my brain's melting because of the heat wave. This is probably the worst thing I've written so far, but I needed to get it out of my system. If I didn't, then my head would hurt for days. So, yeah.**

**Read, review, tell me how bad it was. Or what you liked about it. Hopefully, Fang and Ari were in character. (I'm a bit more worried about Fang being in character; Ari's manageable.)**

**Review, please!**


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